Koi Disease

Koi disease is a problem every koi keeper has to deal with. And, with the lack of specialist koi focused veterinarians the need for learning greater amounts of information on how to heal sick koi becomes more important.

There are a lot of available sources of information about diseases that can hit your beloved koi. The internet is a great resource for koi keepers and hundreds of websites dedicated to koi care and koi fans are already online. Online communities of koi keepers can help guide you with personal advice on how to solve your particular problem. There are also a lot of self-help books about koi and koi care, such book can contain detailed instructions on how to prevent and cure koi disease. Your local veterinarian and his staff can help you with detailed questions about your problem. Nearby fish farms and aquariums also have resident veterinarians and staff that are trained to solve fish health problems. These are your best options when trying to find information about diseases that may hurt your koi.

Before contacting a professional you should be prepare d to answer a few questions about your koi and how they have been behaving. Good things to list down are the age of the fish, weight, size, any and physical difference or deformity due to koi disease you might have noticed. The behavior of the fish is often a good indicator of its health, so take note of that. The physical location of the koi fish can also affect its well being and items related to that should also be taken into consideration by the professional. Take note of the size of your pond or enclosure, the population of fish in it, the number of sick fish, if there is a new fish, as well as medications and other additives in the pond.

Examining you fish is an important part of determining what king of sickness it has if any. Early practice and random inspections helps you hone your skill in this and help keep your koi disease free. Examining your fish may require you to take them out of the water. Netting the fish might become difficult if your koi is agitated because of its health, so practicing your netting skills for transferring them to a bowl may help you in the long run.

The first thing to survey is its outer overall appearance. The major things to look for are external parasites, open wounds, abnormal appearance of the body, lopsided weight distribution, and damage on the fins. If possible take a swab or a scrape of areas that may be infected with a disease and examine them with a microscope or send them to your veterinarian or veterinary lab.

Injuries and diseases are dealt with according to the severity of the koi disease. Whenever possible, isolate the sick fish from the rest of their companions to reduce the risk of cross contamination or further spread of diseases in your pond.

Just as what they all say, prevention is better than cure, so keeping your koi’s habitat is a good way to keeping them healthy.